There is great concern in government and in the food packaging industry for potential environmental hazards associated with disposable plastic containers used in the packaging and sale of beverages such as milk, water, juice, etc., other liquids or semi-liquids (viscous liquids) such as detergents, ketchup, etc., as well as flowable non-liquids such as powders, granules, and salts, etc. It has been estimated, for example, that in the dairy industry alone, as much as 500 million pounds of plastic are required each year for consumer oriented container applications, virtually all of which eventually finds its way to landfills and/or other waste sites. Significant amounts of scrap plastic are also produced by the manufacture of such large amounts of plastic, thereby also contributing to the waste problem. The thin walled container assemblies of my above identified parent application alleviate this problem to the extent of reducing the plastic required to form, for example, a one-gallon container by about fifty percent.
In order to fully utilize the advantages of the thin walled, flexible and disposable containers as described in my above identified parent application, it is desirable to provide a carrier which will securely hold the thin walled container during use, and particularly during pouring. In other words, while the thin walled containers of my parent application are sufficiently strong as to be sold separately as replacements or refills on the shelf with no supporting carrier, the use of the container and particularly the pouring of contents therefrom is made easier and less prone to spilling, because the user need not directly grasp the flexible sidewall of the container.
In accordance with this invention, therefore, a carrier device with an integral handle is provided for receiving and holding a thin walled, flexible and collapsible container. The carrier may be a one-time purchase, or at least a seldom purchased item for the consumer, to be used repeatedly with subsequently purchased refills, while the empty thin walled container itself may be disposed of after use in the normal fashion.
In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the carrier includes relatively rigid lower and upper portions. The lower portion includes a generally cylindrical bucket-like member including a peripheral side wall and a bottom wall. The upper end of the lower portion is open and terminates in an upper peripheral edge.
In this exemplary embodiment, the upper carrier portion includes an elongated, relatively rigid strap portion (which also serves as a handle) which is pivotally connected at one end to the lower carrier portion, and is provided at its other end with a container neck engaging portion.
The one end of the strap portion includes a pivot pin portion which is received within a bracket provided at the upper end of the lower carrier portion, to thereby permit pivotal movement of the upper carrier portion about a vertical axis between a container loading/unloading position and a container neck engaging position.
The pivot pin portion and bracket configuration includes cooperable stop elements for limiting the pivoting movement of the upper carrier portion to about 90.degree., (the arcuate distance between the two above noted positions) and for releasably holding the upper carrier portion in either of these positions.
The container neck engaging portion of the upper carrier portion is designed to snugly engage the container neck just below an outwardly directed radial flange of the thin walled container.
The above described arrangement provides a unique, easy to use thin walled container carrier which is adapted for relatively permanent use, i.e., it is designed to be used repeatedly with thin walled container refills.
Thus, in accordance with a broader aspect of the invention, a thin walled container carrier is provided which comprises (a) a lower carrier portion including a peripheral sidewall, a bottom wall, and an upper peripheral edge; and (b) an upper carrier portion including a relatively rigid handle portion pivotally mounted at one end to the lower container carrier portion, and provided with a container neck engaging portion provided at the other end, the upper carrier portion being pivotable about a vertical axis.
In a related aspect, this invention relates to a combination thin walled container and thin walled container carrier assembly which comprises
(a) a container carrier including a lower portion having a peripheral sidewall, a bottom wall, and an upper peripheral edge; an upper portion including a handle portion having a lower end pivotably secured in the lower portion for swinging movement about a vertical axis, and including a container neck engaging portion at an upper end of the handle portion; and
(b) a flexible and collapsible container adapted to be carried by the carrier assembly, and having a relatively thin peripheral side wall, a bottom wall and a top wall, the top wall having an integrally formed neck portion including closure receiving means formed thereon.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.